As many companies in our field do, North Florida Communications provides maintenance contracts for business telephone systems. Many customers wonder if they should have a maintenance contract for their telephone system. Let’s explore that thought.

Simply put, a maintenance contract is an insurance policy on your telephone system. The contract can be written to cover parts, or both parts and labor. You can choose to have 24x7x365 coverage, or 8-5 Monday-Friday coverage, depending on how important the system is to your business, and of course how much you want to pay. Having a maintenance contract allows you to budget for any problems with your system, saving you from any large, unforseen bills for equipment failures.

At North Florida Communications, we’ve added on to the standard maintenance agreement and changed the name to Managed Voice Services. Our plans provide:

1. Parts and Labor, or Labor Only- choose the coverage that is best for you. Includes damage by lightning.

2. Music-On-Hold- seasonally adjusted music

3. One hour/month Remote Programming- remote changes to your telephone and voice-mail system to keep everything up to date.

4. Annual "Tune-Up" visit- check out condition of phone equipment, replace bad cords, etc.

5. Additional On-Site Training- two one-hour on-site training visits at your request. We'll take questions from experienced users and help train new hires.

6. Updated Templates/Designation Strips- we’ll mail you updated phone designation strips for your telephones as needed. Up to two per phone/year.

7. Priority Response- Maximum 4-hour response time for major problems.

8. Inside Wire Coverage- inside telephone wiring is included. Network cabling can be added for an additional cost.

9. Telco Liaison Service- well contact your telephone company on your behalf for service problems and new orders.

10. 10% Discount on Additional Purchases- discount applies to parts and labor.

So, with NFC, you’re not only getting coverage for your equipment, but you’re also getting many more benefits. For most plans we provide a remote maintenance terminal that allows us to remotely program and monitor your telephone system via the internet. This box also provides music/message-on-hold that we adjust to different seasons.

We give you remote programming that frees up one of your staff members, while keeping your phone system up to date. Does your phone have the name of an employee that left two years ago? With our Managed Voice Services, we would take care of that for you at no additional charge.

Do you have employees that have been hired since the phone system was installed, and are not quite sure about all of the different features? With our plan, you get a site visit for training. Need to order a new line, but dread trying to work with the local phone company? Our included Telco Liaison Service would take care of that for you.

Is a maintenance contract right for your organization? Only you can answer that. Please give me a call if I can help.

Larry Nazworth